Changing the master volume of the built-in DLS synth
Hi folks,
I have a Max project that I made in version 8 that has become strangely unreliable, in that it works on some but not all of a group of seemingly identical iMacs.
I have a teaching lab full of iMacs that I use for a class about music and brains, and I made a little patcher to record people's ratings of randomly presently intervals. It uses the AU DLS synth, a choice which seemed to make sense at the time because I wanted a piano sample, and the DLS sample is good enough for this exercise. But now I find that the same patcher works on some machines, is very quiet on others, and on some machines, makes no sound at all.
It seems as if the master volume on the DLS synth is getting changed without me realizing it, and I don't know how to change it back. Is there some kind of a message I need to send to the DLS synth? I found this link
which talks about using message boxes and a particular start to the messages, ;#SM, but I don't know the message would be to change the volume, or even where to look for this info (besides here.)
Here's the project - can anyone help me troubleshoot this? I'm sure the answer is stupidly simple....but it is a stupidly simple thing that I don't know (draw your own conclusions!)
Click on the "seal" in the lower right corner to start - it is supposed to present a random dyad, from a random midi note between 50 something and 60 something....you rate it by pressing 1 to 7 on the keyboard and hitting return, at which point it plays a different dyad on a different root. It keeps track of the data (check the console) and at the end of 24 trials asks you to save the file.
On half of my iMacs, it works perfectly. On 3 of them, it is silent. On another 2 or 3, it is very quiet. An explanation would be much appreciated!
it could be system sound volume
you can send midi volume CC# 7 to DLS synth
you can use AU plugin of it instead of midi route
Definitely not system sound volume - other stuff sounds fine, just the DLS synth is super soft on a subset of iMacs.
I wanted to use this approach so it would work on a stranger's mac without the need for plug ins. I think the approach that I need is to send midi volume to the DLS synth. Can you please remind me how to do that? (I'm getting back into Max after a pause, and I am very rusty! I used to know how to do this at one point...)
AU DLS synth is allways present on Macs.
and it is more handy in case you want to capture it's output.
if you prefer midi, here is notes and max volume on ch 1
Thank you - I'll give that a try!
Update: I think you just solved my issue. Thanks very much!